Tourniquet
by Automatic Flower
Summary: [ Songfic ] He betrayed her... no, he betrayed them all. He had gone to her again, leaving them to die. But even if she claimed his life with her own hands, she could never truly hate him.


Hey, everyone! (Ducks knives, spears and tomatoes thrown her way).

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm an ass. But you know, I'm getting to them all, I'm getting to them all... I'm trying to use this March break to get on top of my fics, and I thought this story would be a great way to walk back into the whole fanfiction scene. The idea's been on my mind for a while, it's part of the whole Evanescence songfic collection, I guess. I just need to put all the stories into one big book, I suppose, but I'm just lazy... maybe later.

Anyway... err, I was a bit unsure about the rating. I mean, the last scene is pretty uhh... disturbing, some might say. Don't mistake me for a crazy, depressed, sadistic maniac or something; it just goes well with the whole Evanescence image and the song, especially. But if you think I should up the rating, please tell me... don't want ff. net admin after my head... it's fine where it is, attached to my neck.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or the song Tourniquet by Evanescence.

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**Tourniquet**

**-**

**-**

"Inuyasha!"

An arrow whizzed through the air, gathering speed as it flew. Upon hearing his name, Inuyasha turned his head to see the arrow headed straight towards him.

"Kagome… why?.!"

He cried out as the arrow hit him, the impact driving him to the ground.

_I tried to kill the pain_

_But only brought more_

_So much more_

Nearly blinded by the pain, Inuyasha gripped the bloodstained arrow and tried to rip it out where it pierced his heart. The agony, grief and betrayal tore at his mind and shattered his broken heart.

"Why, Kagome?"

Through his obscured vision, he saw her in all her bloody radiance, tears leaking down her cheeks and trailing tracks through red.

"I trusted you," she whispered. "I believed in you…"

_I lay dying_

_And I'm pouring_

_Crimson regret and betrayal_

"No! Kagome, you don't understand! It's not… it's not…!" Tears threatened to spill from Inuyasha's eyes. He tried to hold them back, much to no avail. They began to fall from his eyes, creating a steady flow. Battling back the pain that nearly overwhelmed him, Inuyasha sat up.

"Just… let me explain…"

Kagome choked back a sob and opted to stare at the God Tree rather than at Inuyasha's fallen form.

'Oh the irony…' she thought. 'In the end, time is but a cycle, our lives governed by the Shikon no Tama.'

"I would never… just leave you like that… everything I do is for your sake!"

"Liar!" Kagome screamed. Brown eyes locked with amber. "You followed Kikyou… you went to her when you knew Naraku was coming! Don't you get it, Inuyasha? Our friends are GONE because of you! Sango, Miroku, Kouga… even Shippou and Kirara! They're dead! We fought to protect the jewel while you went to her… you went to Kikyou… and our friends died."

Her eyes burned with a rage and sorrow he had never seen before.

"If I hadn't gone she would have killed you on the spot!"

"But you would have protected me, wouldn't you?" She began taking steps forward, body shaking with the effort. "You said that you would always be there to protect me…"

Inuyasha swallowed. "I…"

"You said you would protect me!" Kagome screamed, sobbing.

_I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming _

_Am I too lost to be saved?_

_Am I too lost?_

He looked down and chuckled quietly. "I guess this is how it is then… I'm sorry Kagome, but I just wanted… what was best for you…"

She watched him, brown eyes pained. But upon remembering the deaths of her friends, she shook her head and let out a cry, falling to her knees.

"But… in the end, I got what I wanted, didn't I?" Inuyasha spoke softly. He crawled to where Kagome kneeled. She was too stunned to say anything, staring as he came to her. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her form, inhaling her scent.

"You're still alive, aren't you?" He smiled softly, looking into chocolate brown eyes filled with tears.

"Inuyasha…"

He closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to hers. Everything was blurry, and he felt his eyelids drooping.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome cried. "Inuyasha!"

The girl he loved calling out his name as his vision faded to black… her voice was the last thing he heard.

_My God, my tourniquet_

_Return to me salvation_

_My God, my tourniquet_

_Return to me salvation_

'Kagome, you are my everything… I love you so much that I cannot even begin to tell you exactly how much my love is for you…

'I would go back in time to fix what happened… I'm so sorry Kagome, this wasn't how it was supposed to turn out… but I guess destiny has its control over us, doesn't it? Still, no matter what, I will always love you, more than anything.

'I will wait for you forever.'

_Do you remember me?_

_Lost for so long_

_Will you be on the other side_

_Or will you forget me?_

'If you continue to live, will you think of me, like how I think of you everyday? In life or in death, there will never be a second that I don't think about you… every moment, you are always on my mind, Kagome… every moment.

'Sometimes I think back… on how we met. I guess that wasn't the most pleasant way of meeting someone, but as time passed, I still fell in love with you—it was inevitable… you changed who I was. I used to be lost, confused, cold and hurt, but when I came to know you… you showed me everything that was meaningful, the bright side. You showed me hope, you showed me love.

'I just wish I could return to you everything you gave to me…'

_I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming_

_Am I too lost to be saved?_

_Am I too lost?_

Hours later, the sun began to set. Kagome had not once moved from her spot where she cradled Inuyasha's body. Her tears had run until she had no more tears to shed. The blood had dried long ago. Splashes of crimson decorated the sky—resembling blood.

'Even though I took your life with my own hands… you still loved me… you still forgave me, Inuyasha…'

She ran her fingers through Inuyasha's hair, gently pulling out tangles and caked blood. Kagome lowered her face until her cheek came in contact with Inuyasha's cool one.

_My God, my tourniquet_

_Return to me salvation_

_My God, my tourniquet_

_Return to me salvation_

'It's too late to take back the harsh words I said… but I wanted to tell you that I didn't mean any of it… how could I hold anything against you, much less hate you? Did you really think it was possible, that I could become cold enough to turn against you? No, even if I wanted to I could never. My heart would never allow it… I can't do anything but love you. How could I hate someone who loved me, protected me, sheltered me, and took care of me?

'I wish you could be here with me again… but that's not happening…'

_Return to me salvation…_

_I want to die!_

'The only way to unite with you again…' Kagome thought as she laid Inuyasha on the ground and stood up, walking to wear her bow and arrows were. She plucked an arrow from the rest, and returned to her spot beside Inuyasha. 'Is this…'

'Maybe… this was all too much. I don't think I can handle any more.' She thought as she put the arrow right underneath the start of her forearm 'I want to be with Inuyasha again. This is the only way.'

"Even if you had left me with all the intent to betray us and leave us to die at the hand of Naraku… or if you left us for my sake… either way, my feelings wouldn't change. I'd still love you."

'And that's why I need to be with you, Inuyasha.'

_My God, my tourniquet_

_Return to me salvation_

_My God, my tourniquet_

_Return to me salvation_

She remembered a poem she had read about cutting before. She plunged the arrow into her skin. "Down the road…" she recited, dragging it through her flesh towards her wrist. Blood came spilling out in torrents, ruby red and shining in the setting sun. "Or across the street…" she pulled the arrow out and reinserted it into her wrist, drawing it across the width of it. An artery exploded. "Either way…" she repeated the same operations to her other arm, "you'll still bleed."

_My wounds cry for the grave_

_My soul cries for deliverance_

_Will I be denied? _

_Christ, tourniquet_

_My suicide_

Blood trickling in a steady flow, Kagome reached for Inuyasha's body and embraced it once again, falling to the ground beside him. Upon their faces sat serene smiles, as if through the beautiful and bloody tragedy, both had found love and romance at last.

* * *

Please don't kill me.


End file.
